It Matters to Me
by tripwatcher2
Summary: My take on the episode where Jack and Mia finally get together and make love for the first time. Please see author's note inside and also please take note of the rating!


Author's note: I had this mostly written right after the episode where Jack and Mia finally get together and make love for the first time. But I was still working on the details when I heard about the show being cancelled and it just killed my momentum. I was so disappointed in how they decided to wrap up the show and end Jack and Mia's relationship that I abandoned this story but recently came across it on my computer and realized how much I loved the show and Jack and Mia together. So – the hell with the writers, and the critics, and the powers that be! This is my take on this particular episode and how I envision the scene went after the screen went dark.

AND THIS IS VERY MUCH R-RATED!

It Matters to Me

by tripwatcher

There was a gentle knock on her door and Mia walked quickly to open it. Her heart fluttered; she knew it had to be Jack. She had called him and asked him to come over because she intended to tell him that they couldn't see each other any longer. She felt that she owed it to him to say it face-to-face instead of over the telephone, even though that would have been much easier for her.

So far, they had just been on the one "official" date which ended with a quick kiss on the cheek goodnight. Jack was a gentleman and was taking his cues from her as to how fast to move things along. But Mia knew that it could never go any further.

Jack had taken her dancing – honky tonk dancing, no less. It was a first for Mia, a self-proclaimed "city girl from Chicago", and she had found herself relaxing, with a little help from the beer. They had talked and laughed long into the evening until finally deciding it was time to call it a night. Mia had asked him to drop her off a block from the front of the casino, which he finally and very reluctantly agreed to do. She really like Jack but knew that her father or one of the men on his payroll could be watching for her. The danger she was putting them both in was very real.

When her mother died, Mia was left to be raised by a man who had desperately wanted a son to learn "the business". Instead, he had gotten a quick-minded, sharp-tongued _daughter_ who sat in the background and listened to the business being conducted around her. She had learned so much just by being unobtrusive and casually including herself in her father's business dealings more and more over the years. And she had graduated top of her class from Business College, being one of only three women in the whole program.

And now, almost 10 years later, her father would sometimes give her credit for the good business decisions she made and the savvy way she handled people, but those times were rare. With her boss, Vincent Savino, it was a little better and Mia had come to respect him and appreciate the way he handled things.

Savino was smart as well as ambitious and that was a dangerous combination. Her father was dangerous too. Not because he was that smart necessarily, but because he could be ruthless – stone cold ruthless. She had seen it for herself, up close and personal. She would never, ever let him know it, but her father scared her and on more than one occasion she had wished him dead.

Mia knew it was crazy to explore a relationship with Jack Lamb. A deputy sheriff for goodness sake! A cowboy! Could there be any two people more opposite than she and Jack? Of course, Mia knew in her heart that they really weren't all that different. They both believed in hard work and they took their responsibilities seriously. They were both loyal to family and good judges of character. Mia, like Jack, would never go out of her way to be cruel or hurt anyone on purpose, but she could and would, stand up to anyone who wronged her or her family or friends. Mia knew Jack to be stubborn as a mule when he felt he was in the right, and she wasn't too proud to admit that was also something they had in common.

Where Jack and Mia differed however, was in how they felt about the way the casinos were run. Mia had no problem skimming a percentage of the take. She also had no compulsion about making sure that the odds were heavily stacked in favor of the house. As far as she was concerned, the people who came into the casino to gamble deserved to lose their money. They were adults who chose to gamble and they knew the odds of winning and the risks of losing, or they should anyway.

Jack's eyes widened and he gripped the cowboy hat in his hand a little tighter when Mia opened the door. She was so beautiful standing in the open doorway. Her green dress fit like a glove and highlighted the perfect curves of her petite frame. The dress was designed so that a strap crossed one shoulder and the other shoulder was left bare. It wasn't a particularly daring, low cut dress, but it was the most revealing thing he had ever seen her wear and it made his heart skip a beat. He had thought she was beautiful before, but tonight she was especially so.

"I'm so glad you called", Jack seemed to be in high spirits as he swept past her to enter the room.

"Jack", Mia spoke with a sigh and Jack's face immediately clouded.

"What's wrong?" He watched her with concern as she avoided his eyes.

"This", she finally said. "This is wrong."

At Jack's questioning expression, she elaborated. "Us. We're wrong."

"Really? That's how you feel?" He just couldn't believe what she was saying. Not after the last few months of flirting and both of them making up excuses to run into one another, not after the fun she had seemed to have on their date.

"It's what I know", she said firmly, trying to convince herself as well as him. "Please don't call me. Don't send me presents. We can't see each other anymore." Her voice shook slightly and she grimaced at her own weakness.

"Dammit", Jack muttered, purposely misunderstanding. "I knew I should've gotten you Patsy Cline. Ladies always like Patsy Cline."

"I love the record", she cut him off softly. "But with _my _family and _your _family, it's just too dangerous."

"I'm not scared of your father."

"You should be. If he knew about us…."

Mia let that terrible thought linger a moment then she squared her shoulders and turned back towards the door. "This is not going to work."

Jack's hand moved lightening fast to catch her arm and Mia stopped still in her tracks and turned back, looking at him over her shoulder. He leaned down, just inches from her face and looked directly into her wide green eyes.

His voice was soft but edged with steel. "The other night, when you were in my arms, and we were out there on that dance floor, that wasn't working for you? Cause I gotta be honest, it was working for me."

Mia just looked even sadder and said softly, "Jack, don't make this harder." Resigned, she moved away from him and opened the door.

"You sure this is what you want?" He sure as hell didn't want to go, but he wasn't going to beg, dammit! If she was too afraid to give them a try, then he might as well move on, he told himself.

"It doesn't matter what I want."

Jack was already moving and let the momentum carry him out the door but something about the way she said that last statement tugged at him and he immediately turned around and stuck his booted foot forcefully in the door before she could close it completely.

Mia stepped back, surprised, as the door swung open and Jack strode back through then slammed it shut behind him.

"It matters to me," he growled out as he walked right up to her with a determined look on his face. He pulled her in and kissed her with a fierce passion, cupping the back of her head with one hand, still holding his cowboy hat in the other.

The kiss only lasted a few seconds and then Jack pulled back a little to look into her eyes. She could see the question there plainly on his face. He was afraid he had gone too far, crossed a line with her. He wanted to know what she was thinking, what she was going to do about him kissing her. The next move would be hers.

"It matters to me."

She realized that Jack had said it with conviction because he meant every word. He cared about _her_ wants, _her_ needs. For Mia, it was an almost overwhelming thought. For so long, she had been under the shadow of her father, trying to please him and his business associates. She couldn't remember the last time anyone had really and truly cared about what she wanted.

Even though it felt like many minutes to her, it actually only took her all of two seconds to decide _the hell with it, and my father be damned_. She wanted Jack Lamb more than anything. The heat between them had started from the first moment their eyes met. He had blatantly flirted with her while filling out her work card in the sheriff's office, his dimples flashing. Mia would have never, in a million years, ever thought that she would be attracted to a cowboy, of all things. A _deputy sheriff_ cowboy at that!

But the mutual attraction had been there from the beginning and had only grown stronger the more they had gotten to know each other. She loved how _solid_ Jack was, how unflappable. She loved how confident he was in the law and in his trusty shotgun. She loved the code of chivalry and honor that he lived by. It was so different from the world she had grown up in. Jack was honest and open, affectionate and tender, funny and earnest, easy-going and attentive. In other words, Jack was all the things that her father wasn't, all the things that Mia had never had and didn't even know she wanted until she met Jack Lamb.

And so, to answer the question in his eyes, she stepped up on her toes, gripped his jacket lapels to pull him down to her and then she kissed him back just as passionately as he had kissed her. Instantly, it was like the flood gates opened and they couldn't get enough of each other. The kisses continued as they moved away from the door, hands roaming over each other, neither of them wanting to break contact. Jack's cowboy hat hit the floor unnoticed.

With her mouth still on his, Mia ran her hands up his chest inside his jacket and she began pushing it off of his broad shoulders. Jack helped by shrugging out of it and tossing it aside. Her hands immediately came back to his chest and she went up on her toes to wrap her arms around his neck. Jack wrapped one arm around her back with his hand going up to tangle in her hair. He wrapped the other arm around her waist and drew her flush up against him.

His mouth moved down her neck and she gasped as he hit a particularly sensitive area on the top of her bare shoulder. Jack's heart was pounding and he was beginning to feel light-headed from the lack of oxygen and from all the blood in his body rushing south.

He loosened his hold on her just slightly so that he could look down into her eyes and was glad to see that she appeared to be just as dazed by the sudden rush of desire between them as he was. Her lips were red and slightly swollen from his kisses and her hair was mussed. He thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

"You're sure about this, Mia?" His voice sounded gruff, slightly raspy, and his heart pounded while he waited for her answer. He knew that her head and her heart were at odds and he hated that she felt so torn but could only hope that her desire to be with him would outweigh her fear of her father.

Mia just looked up at him for a few moments with her arms around his neck. Then she slowly pulled away and moved to turn around. Jack's heart sank, thinking that she was once again headed to the door to show him out. He didn't reach for her arm this time, but she stopped anyway and looked back over her shoulder at him once again.

She held his gaze for a moment and then spoke softly, "Jack, it unzips in the back."

For a moment he just stood there, speechless. Finally he noticed the corners of her mouth twitching and the sparkle in her eyes and his brain caught up to what she had said. A small grin broke out on his face and he slowly began to slide the zipper down to where it ended at her hips. Only soft creamy skin was revealed as the back of her dress fell open, no bra, no camisole straps. Jack swallowed audibly a couple of times and tried to rein in his libido.

He moved closer to her and gently pushed down the strap of material that crossed over one shoulder. She leaned her head to the side to give him better access and he kissed his way down her neck while his hands slid around her waist. The loose dress now gapped in front and Jack was treated to a lovely view of the top of her bare breasts over her shoulder.

Mia moved to turn around and Jack loosened his hold on her waist. He watched in silent awe as the dress slid slowly down her body to pool at her feet. His eyes widened and he involuntarily stepped back when he realized she was left wearing only black silk panties, a garter belt with stockings, and black high-heels.

"God, you are so beautiful." His voice was husky and strained.

Mia blushed and looked away for a moment but then raised her eyes to meet his with a small smile. She nodded her head slightly towards the open doorway immediately to her left. The room behind it was dark but Jack could still make out the end of a large bed.

She had a corner penthouse suite on the opposite side of the casino from Vincent Savino and his family. Their suite was larger than hers with more windows, but Mia loved her quiet corner and the privacy it offered. She was especially glad tonight that she had picked this particular suite.

Jack held out his hand to her and then turned and led her into the bedroom. The drapes were open and soft moonlight threw a narrow beam across one corner of the bed. The urgency from before had eased some now and doubts began to creep into Jack's mind. Not doubts that this is what he wanted, but rather, doubts about himself doing this right and not screwing it up. He had been with a few women before but none that he had ever felt this way about, none that had ever mattered to him as much as Mia did.

Jack just gazed at her for a few moments, almost afraid to ruin the magic of the moment. Mia stepped closer to him and reached up to wrap her arms around his neck. "Not having second thoughts, are you, Cowboy?"

He wrapped his arms around her waist and shook his head immediately. "God no! I just want to do this right, make it perfect for you, you know?"

"It will be perfect for me – because I'm with you, Jack," Mia stated in that soft, direct way she had of speaking.

Jack smiled down at her, his dimples showing. "Did anyone ever tell you, Miss Rizzo, that you are an amazing woman?"

Mia smiled softly and shook her head, "No one that I ever believed."

"Well you can believe it when I say it, darling. You. Are. Amazing."

"And did anyone ever tell you, Deputy Lamb, that you have too many clothes on?"

Jack grinned, "Not that I can ever recall, no."

"Well, I'm telling you now and I think it's about time we do something about that," Mia began tugging the tail of his western shirt up and out of his jeans. Jack leaned down and caught her mouth with his while running his hands down her bare back and then up her sides to gently brush her breasts. He felt and heard the pearl snaps on his shirt give as Mia hastily ripped them apart.

Her hands discovered the soft white t-shirt that he wore underneath his button-down shirt. "Damn Jack, how many layers do you have on?" she panted the words next to his ear when he slid his hands down her backside and cupped her bottom.

Jack chuckled and raised his arms so she could push the t-shirt up and over his head. He tossed it away and Mia's hands went immediately to his bare chest, running her hands over well-defined muscles and a few small scars.

His arms again went around her and he pulled her flush against him with his hands caressing her bottom through the thin silk of her panties. They both gasped at the sensation of skin on skin as her soft breasts met the hardness of his chest. Their mouths met again and tongues tangled. Jack began walking her backwards toward the bed.

They stopped beside the bed and Mia kicked off her high heels behind her. She reached up and pulled out the pins holding her long blonde hair in place. Jack had never seen her with anything besides a neat, sensible bun and he was speechless as her beautiful blonde tresses fell down over her shoulders and back.

Jack knelt down in front of her and unhooked the clips holding her stockings up. He gently rolled down each stocking while kissing her knees and thighs in turn. Mia placed her hands on his shoulders, closed her eyes and moaned softly at the incredible sensation of his warm wet mouth on her body.

She helped him to unfasten the garter belt and it fell away. Jack rose on his knees to kiss her bare stomach and the small triangle of her underwear. Slowly, ever so slowly, he pulled her panties down her legs and she stepped out of them as well.

Jack feasted his eyes on her body and again rose up to place warm kisses on her stomach with his hair tickling the underside of her breasts. His hands roamed up her legs and over her backside. She was soft and curvy in all the right places and fit his hands perfectly.

Mia placed a hand under his chin and raised his gaze up to meet hers. "Jack, I want you. Make love to me tonight."

He stood to his full height and lowered his mouth to hers. This kiss was less urgent, less demanding than the ones before. This kiss was slow and seductive, hot and wet, and seemed to go on forever. Jack took his time, kissing every inch of her while lowering her carefully to the bed.

By the time he was fully undressed and lying over her, Mia was already consumed by his passion and overwhelmed by the sensations of his mouth and hands on her body. He spent time cataloging her responses to every kiss, taking her ever higher and higher until she could no longer stand to be separate from him.

"Jack, please, I need you. Need you inside me now." As he complied with her panted plea, Jack held her gaze in the moonlight. Their eyes remained locked as he slid fully into her waiting body. She gasped at the sensation of him stretching her, filling her, completing her.

Jack stilled above her, bracing his weight on his forearms. "God Mia, you are so beautiful. And you feel so good. This feels so good."

Mia tilted her hips, nudging his into action and Jack began to move. They found a rhythm that quickly took them over the edge with Mia crying out at her release and grasping roughly at Jack's back as he found his.

His muscles relaxed and he began to roll off of her but Mia kept her ankles locked behind his hips, holding him in place. "Mmmm, stay inside me. I love the way you feel."

Jack's body twitched at her words. "God woman", he groaned. "Are you trying to kill me?"

Mia laughed softly. "Nope, no killing. You're waaay too good at this so I plan to keep you around, alive and kicking, for a long, long time."

Jack chuckled and then finally, carefully, pulled out and rolled over to his side when Mia lowered her legs. He immediately wrapped his arm around her and pulled her with him so that she was snuggled up against his side with one of her legs draped across his hips and her arms tucked between them.

They lay like that until Jack noticed how cool her leg and back were beginning to feel under his hands. He rose up and snagged the comforter that had fallen halfway off the bed and draped it over both of them. Mia sighed sleepily and snuggled even closer to him.

Jack smiled and softly kissed the top of her head where it lay on his shoulder. He knew that he loved her and would have said it to her now except that he was pretty sure she wasn't ready to hear it yet. Her fear of her father was still very strong and very real but Jack was determined not to let her use that as an excuse to keep them apart. He would handle her father, one way or the other.

And sadly, that is the end of Jack and Mia. I refuse to accept the way the show ended, however! They remain alive and well inside my mind and are living passionately and happily somewhere in Vegas still!


End file.
